Bosnia Gets New Chief State Prosecutor

At a special session held on Wednesday, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, HJPC, selected Salihovic as the Chief Prosecutor of the State Prosecution.

“The Chief Prosecutor of Bosnia and Herzegovina will assume his functions on February 1, 2013,” the HJPC’s announcement says.

According to the HJPC rules, a selected candidate must have at least eight years’ experience as a judge, prosecutor or attorney or other legal experience, as well as proven managerial and organizational skills that are considered important for the post.

Salihovic is the current President of the Municipal Court in Sarajevo.

In an interview given to the Bosnian state television, Salihovic said that one of his priorities as the new chief prosecutor will be to speed up the work on the remaining war crimes cases.

According to data from the HJPC there are approximately 600 pending war crimes investigations in the Bosnian State prosecution, and all of them have been marked as “sensitive cases”.

Salihovic’s predecessor, Milorad Barasin, was dismissed in July 2011, after it had been determined through a disciplinary procedure that he damaged the reputation of the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina by meeting with known criminals.

According to an earlier decision rendered by the HJPC, Prosecutor Jadranka Lokmic-Misiraca has been the Acting Chief Prosecutor of Bosnia and Herzegovina since Milorad Barasin was prevented from performing the function.